Aquarium care section

I know there is an advanced captive care section, whatever advance means, there should be a better aquarium care section. A few subforums could be setup and filtration, breeding and members tanks. Some sticky captive care guides will be helpful also.

Not necessarily bad ideas. I think they haven't quite been done like you mention because most folks coming here have a modicum of aquarium experience, and issues that make the boards tend to be specific, case by case, scenarios. What might be better is some pinned information on some of the basics. More subforums mean more work for the all volunteer staff, and right now I get the impression that the volunteers are at the limits, if not past the limits, of what life/time allow them to do right now. I know I'm just about maxed out...

A couple folks have tried to start forum pages for captive care guides for specific fishes. There has only been a modicum of success, largely due to the fact that most (all?) these care guides have been spontaneously created and posted. Sometimes the info is spot on, sometimes it's suspect. Not what we want for NANFA.

What seems to work better in this regard is the Fish In Focus section of the NANFA homepage. Those are peer reviewed before they ever hit the web and/or American Currents. There is a definite trend towards more captive care information being included in them; Erica W's Elassoma gilberti, Dustin S' E. evergladei, Michael W's Hybopsis rubrifrons, Bruce S's Fundulus luciae, and my own Etheostoma hopkinsi have captive care intel included. As does Michael W and my Notropis lutipinnis FIF joint effort. That's just off the top of my head; I'm sure there are others I missed, and I apologize to the authors. A few of us at NANFA would really like to see this aspect of our organization take off. The FIF's don't have to be about aquarium-suitable fish, but they certainly can be.

If you, or anybody else, has a fish you are interested in, create a FIF! Myself, Michael W., and many others are willing to steer you. Ask us -pm or post- to get one started, or if you need help. If there is a fish with which you have captive experience, you may add that. The best part is you will need to submit it for others to look at, informally, and offer feedback. That's valuable because you can be sure that what you contribute is accurate and reflects well on you and NANFA.

Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

Just a little more to think on; all of those spontaneous care sheets to which I referred earlier are fledgling FIFs, each with potential to add quality work to NANFA. I did not mean to be dismissive of them, if I came off that way. If you created one, maybe revisit it and rework it...

Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

No that is not at all true. Read the NANFA mission statement. Captive husbandry is a very important part of what's we do. And if you want friendly, you won't find better people to camp and hang out with than NANFAns. Find your local members and join them in the stream!

Cu455---captive husbandry of native fish goes back as long as (and probably longer) than most tropical species of fish in the U.S. However, we all know that the tropical fish keeping world is much bigger than the native-keepers world. That being said, Fisher88 is correct that forums like MFK are going to have many more members, and a larger forum covering more areas. But where Fisher88 is indeed wrong is that none of us try to hide what natives we keep in captivity.

A simple search through our forum will result in countless posts of members and new guests asking, "Has anyone kept SPECIES X before? How did you keep them? What size tank is best for SPECIES Y? What can I keep in a 55 gal.?" The main difference with natives and tropical species is that the tropical species are much more readily available. Both online and in pet stores. So a NANFA member in California can have access to the same cichlid as a NANFA member in Kansas, Texas, Florida, Virginia, etc. The native fish business, as it were, is a fraction of that size. There are very few licensed and permitted vendors capable of collecting and/or breeding a lot of the stuff that native keepers want to maintain in captivity.

So what are we left with? A large handful of native enthusiasts who keep what they can find in their backyard/state/neighboring state. And what a NANFA member in KY is keeping from a creek in his backyard, is not something that I have access to from a creek in my backyard (in VA). So the dissemination of information about "who keeps this?" and "how do you keep it" is much narrower than the tropical hobby. Some states do not allow native fish to be captured or kept as pets. Others have issues about accidental/intentional releases of non-natives into their waters and have strict policies. So it is hard to have a general, advanced fish keeping forum where someone can ask, "What is the best way to keep Tennessee snubnose darters"? Few people have access to, and keep them in captivity. So there isn't really a sub-forum needed for that. But people have and will continue to ask questions just like that--and we WILL answer them. (Comparatively, over at MFK, 10 people a day ask, "How do I keep Jack Dempsy cichlids?" Those fish are a dime a dozen and almost everyone on that forum has had one and knows the answer to those questions).

But again, none of us hide anything. I'm really confused how that viewpoint was arrived at. Cu455, if you have ANY native, captive, fish related husbandry questions--ask away! There are lots of advanced and skillful fish keepers that frequent this forum. I work in the professional aquarium business like others on this forum and enjoy sharing my husbandry knowledge of native species with others. I don't think the U.S. native fish industry is going to take off like the tropical one has. But there will always be people keeping [and breeding] them as long as it is lawful to do so. And as long as our wonderful volunteers maintain this forum, there will always be a podium for people like you to inquire.